Nina Simone - Pastel Blues (1965)

A seminal blues/soul album. The song "Sinnerman" alone is like half of this score. "Strange Fruit" is one of the most haunting, terrifyingly amazing songs of all time, hands down. I'm convinced that anyone who isn't moved by it, even just a little, just straight up hasn't heard it. Many other soul singers could perform over the instrumentals in this album -- Otis Redding, Sam Cooke, Aretha Franklin, just to name a few -- but only Nina Simone had the ability to set such an incredible mood.